Just got back from a business trip to Vancouver. Wow! Every time I go there I am blown away by both the man-made and natural beauty. Supercars are everywhere (you see 5-6 lambos per day, easily) and the food is outrageous. I highly recommend the Blue Water Cafe, which has the most ridiculously amazing seafood dish I have ever tried. Sablefish in miso sake glaze with bok choy, edamame, quinoa and shiitake mushrooms with yuzu dashi! Finishing up with a glass of George T. Stagg was the endcap to a perfect dinner.
What's that you say? You are here for cars and not food? Fine!
Finally got a few free minutes to head down to the garage and make some process. While I am stuck in "waiting for parts in the mail" mode, I decided I would get a start on stripping some of the interior. The rear seats and sound deadening were and obvious and easy first choice. In fact, it was easier than I expected.
1. Fold the rear seats forward to give yourself better access to the rear.
2. Firmly grip the bottom rear seat cushion and pull directly up. It might feel like you are going to break something, but you won't. Give it a firm pull and you'll feel it pop up. Go to the other side of the car and repeat. Then just pull the bottom cushion out of one of the doors and set it aside.
3. Grip the side bolsters under where the rear seatbelts are. Pull the top of it towards you and away from the side of the car, and it will pop free just like the bottom cushion. Repeat on the other side.
4. Take a T50 external torx bit and remove the two bolts (one on each side) located on the sides of the rear seat back assembly. They are black bolts that go into a black bracket. I used an impact gun here for speed but you can get them out with a 1/2 in ratchet no problem.
5. Go to the trunk and pull the seat back fold-down levers.
6. Fold down both seat backs so they are laying flat. At this point they are only held into the car by a white rod that connects the two seats and goes through a bracket that is welded to the body of the car.
7. Pull the two seatbacks apart from each other until they are separate and not joined at the white rod.
8. Using a trim tool, pop the six plastic trim fasteners that hold the insulation in, and remove it.
All done! A grand total of 56.51lbs saved in a total of 15 minutes work. This has got to be one of the best bang for the buck you can possibly do to the car, especially since the weight is at the middle of the chassis and relatively high up.
The total list of weights:
Seat bottom cushion: 15.3lbs
Seat back 1 (smaller): 14.5lbs
Seat back 2: 21.11lbs
Side bolsters: 4.2lbs
Insulation: 1.4lbs
This is so easy and quick that it is a no-brainer for anyone that tracks their car or doesn't use their backseats. I can completely reverse this in 10-15 minutes, but it's a lot of weight saved and should also slightly lower the center of gravity of the car. Between this and some front seats you can save about 100lbs. I anticipate being able to save a solid 200lbs+ over stock and still keep the car completely street able and comfortable. I plan on making a trim panel from carpet and foam that should weigh about 5-6lbs but make the car look like it came this way stock; that way I can remove for the track but put it back on for shows and when I want to drive the car long distances.